Cooler Heads Prevailing for Now

Christian Petersen / Getty ImagesGary Matthews Jr. probably won't steal the hearts of Mets fans as easily as he stole home against the D'Backs last June. Stealing home helps, though.

The trouble with the Matthews trade was the hype.

After Joel Pineiro signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Mets' Hot Stove fired up with chatter involving strong pursuits of Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, Erik Bedard, and the like. Following an offseason of inactivity except for bringing in Jason Bay, we finally expected the Mets to make some roster moves. This late in the winter, the moves aren't earth-shattering. But we expected something.

Then, Jon Heyman announces that Gary Matthews Jr. is a Met. That can't be it, right? There's a follow up move, right? That's the big deal?

Because the Angels are paying all but $2 million of Matthews' salary, this trade is fine. It's the equivalent of the Mets resigning Jeremy Reed or Reed Johnson (who, admittedly, was cheaper). For those getting outraged that the Mets sent a serviceable reliever like Brian Stokes back, keep in mind that Stokes became even more expendable when the Mets signed Kelvim Escobar and Japanese reliever Ryota Igarash. Rather than make him compete for a contested reliever's spot in Spring Training and again be forgotten about by Jerry Manuel for long stretches, Minaya flipped Stokes for outfield depth. Not great outfield depth, but depth.

For example, you wouldn't put much stock in a player's slugging percentage after 100 at-bats (think Delgado in 2007). Defensive metrics like UZR require a much larger sample, meaning it's tough to make conclusions from a small sample size. Like the small sample size you'd get from a part-time player.

Despite what ESPN's Buster Olney would have you believe, this trade was neither great nor terrible. It just is. The Mets put themselves in a situation to see if Matthews' stats were due to a bad situation or a natural decline, and can release him later in the season with little penalty. The trouble with the trade has nothing to do with the players involved.